Starting to get it…

A few years ago I had a wordpress blog that I used as my primary communication tool with my 5th grade students’ parents. I thought it was great and that I was so clever for using this format for my newsletter. Most of the feedback I received from parents was positive and I liked being able to give parents information regularly or at irregular times without having to send out mass emails.

The last two years I have been a Learning Center teacher and have not incorporated the idea of a blog into my communications with parents. There needs to be so much communication that is private, I was not sure how to make this tool useful in the given situation. Tonight I have spent a few hours trying to get this blog set up. At first, it was frustrating; mostly because I thought I knew what I was doing. But as I should have expected there have been a lot of changes to how this works.

So here I am, hours later, and I feel like I am starting to get it. Not only am I thinking about how when I become really proficient at this, it will be an amazing portfolio to walk away from school with, but I am also thinking how I can reincorporate using a blog to communicate with my Learning Center students’ parents.

Being a Teacher

Being a teacher is rewarding

Being a teacher is fun

Being a teacher is challenging

Being a teacher takes time

Being a teacher makes me feel important

Being a teacher means spending time with children

Being a teacher -I could go on, feel free to add what being a teacher means to you!

I have been teaching for ten years. When I first graduated college with a degree in Biology I was not sure what I was going to do.

My fiance (at the time, now my husband) suggested teaching. I thought it seemed like a good idea. I always enjoyed being a counselor or lifeguard at camp and loved children. After some time I got a job as a Science teacher at a private school in Manhattan. I fell in love. I travelled almost three hours a day to teach children and to learn what teaching was about and I would not trade it for anything. I have grown a lot in the last ten years and have learned so much from colleagues, supervisors, and children. I am looking forward to formalizing a cumulation of the informal education I received with a formal education from SPU.

Dr. Algera asked us to answer two questions:

1-What vision do you have of yourself as a developing and effective teacher?

I have a vision that as I learn new theories and practices I will be able to apply them effectively with my students. I see that each year teachers grow and become better because they are not only learning from each other, classes, or workshops, but that teachers learn from their students as well.

2-What do you think will make you a particularly successful teacher?

I feel really confident in saying that part of what will make me successful is my commitment to being a teacher. I know EXACTLY what I am in for in the next 25 years of my life and I am looking forward to it! I have had a lot of time to decide if this is really what I want to do. I have only ever taught in private schools, but I have taught several different subjects and worked with children of varying ages. I am doing just what I am meant to be doing. I am committed, patient, loving, and willing to learn. This is what will make me a particularly successful teacher.